Bivvy: a new adventure

As I sit here and contemplate the many things that I want to do I make a resolution. Summer and Autumn months have brought about excited talk of holidays and the far flung destinations that my friends will be visiting and, while I appreciate the buzz and anticipation of traveling somewhere new, I know that it’s just not a practicality for me at the moment to do the same.

Knowing this, I made a deal with myself. Instead of being jealous I would take advantage of the home territory. There’s plenty of exciting and wild places to go in the UK – that much I’ve had my eyes opened to (not that I didn’t already know that) through working on Trail and Country Walking. Our country is a beautiful one and it seems dull to not take advantage of it now.

A couple of weekends ago we set out on a trip to Snowdonia. Instead if the usual walk, hostel, walk we decided to do something a little different: bivvy. We would essentially be sleeping in giant waterproof bags. There’s something completely crazy about the idea of sleeping out in the open. You have nothing above your head so you’re exposed to the night sky and no walls to keep those creepy crawly night terrors at bay. At the same time it’s completely liberating. Sleeping with so few barriers to the night certainly makes you appreciate the world and what you already have that little bit more. The night sky is truly beautiful: the mountains still and peaceful.

It was the first time I’d bivvied and I certainly learnt a lot. Having a good sleeping bag – one that’s suited to the season – is always useful. We ended up carrying a lot of stuff, which surprised us. Bivvying is meant to be lightweight but we were carrying so much you’d have thought we’d be out for the weekend – yet, we needed it all. It was cold in the night so we were very glad of the extra layers we’d brought.

As with any wild-camp we made sure we left no trace and had disappeared as soon as the sun came up. It was certainly a night to remember – and one that i’ll be repeating.